53% of 13-year-old American girls are unhappy with their bodies. 78% of 17 year old American girls don’t like the way they look.
When I (Clarissa, here!) first read that statistic, I almost cried. At the age of 13, already 1 out of every 2 young girls HATE THEIR BODIES. I’ll admit that at the age of 13 and heavily involved in the world of dance, I was one of them.
As a society, we have promoted this. We continue to perpetuate the myth that all beautiful women are stick thin, have big lips, big breasts, long, shiny, perfectly coiffed hair, a golden tan, and teeth whiter than snow. Sure, a few women fit that mold, but let’s be honest. The majority of us are, well, normal. But I don’t want this to be a “let’s all hate society, move to the back country, and become Amish” post, because I think society can also have a positive impact too. What I really want to focus on is a story.
I read an article a while back about a model who was telling the honest truth about her profession: that most of the time, it sucks. They had a video of her giving a talk (to watch the full video, click here) in which she describes how to get the perfect “walking look”, much like this one here.
"You put this arm forward, and this arm back, head at three-quarters and jump, looking back at your imaginary friends." She demonstrates, and then proceeds to say that you could do this upwards of 500 times to get just the right shot.
I’ll admit, I’ve seen those pictures and thought “wow…these models are just so glamorous, and all they’re doing is walking”! But when I heard her say that she does it over and over again 500 times…that was a reality check. You see, the pictures that we are inundated with in magazines and on billboards and the internet, these aren’t real. In her own words, the model says this:
If you need further proof that these pictures are extremely edited, check out this article.
I wish that I could let all women know this. To shout it from the rooftops and educate each and every person on how unrealistic our expectations are for ourselves. Why do we let society tell us what it means to be “beautiful”, when those who are “beautiful” are the most miserable? Cameron Russell says it herself:
“I am insecure. I’m insecure because I have to think about what I look like every day. If you ever are wondering, ‘If I have thinner thighs and shinier hair will I be happier?’ then you just need to meet a group of models because they have the thinnest thighs and the shiniest hair and the coolest clothes and they’re the most physically insecure women on the planet.”
Now I don’t consider myself the most confident woman to ever walk the earth, but I find that it takes a great deal more courage to embrace who God created you to be rather than to give into the cookie-cutter idea of what makes a woman desirable. The fact of the matter is, our culture will constantly be telling us conflicting ideas of what it means to be attractive. 50 years ago, skinny was considered ugly and curvy girls were all the rage. But a beautiful woman is one who understands that she was created in the image and likeness of God the Creator, and therefore that she is perfect in her imperfections.
To be women in the world, we must be consumed by this knowledge. To know that we in fact are beautiful, even on those days when we wake up and our hair is matted and we’ve put on a few pounds. Those days when we try on everything in our closets because we don’t feel good in anything. THESE are the days in which we have to allow the Lord to whisper into our hearts and gently remind us that we possess a force greater than we can even imagine.
Totus Tuus Maria,
Clarissa
